Digimon Crusade
by P.Rock
Summary: When Collin, Kayla, and Rico are transported from their world to the Digital World, they are thrown into a war that neither of them could have been prepared for. The three experience that the Digital World is not so different from their own.
1. Messages

-1

**Collin**

As much as I love Marianas Trench, having them wake me up at 7 o'clock AM every morning makes me want to shoot them in the head. I reach over and fumble with my cell phone, desperately attempting to find the button to stop "Cross My Heart" before it drove me insane with the chorus. I know technology is great these days, but why does there have to be such a complicated process for changing the alarm sound on your Blackberry? I have over 50 songs on the memory card that I spent 20$ on, and yet I've only ever heard most of them twice. Except this song. I'm not sure if most people would agree with me, but Blackberry needs to step it up.

This is how I start my morning: After briefly considering smashing my phone into a million pieces, I immediately check for new messages. This morning, I've received one from my best friend Shawn. It reads,

"hey Collin, I kno its kinda early, but I just wantd to remind u to bring the mixtapes I asked 4 yesterday. I 3 u ;o".

Sometimes, I swear Shawn is a fucking idiot. I gave him those mix tapes yesterday. I don't know why I'm not used to it yet. The guy's stoned out of his mind most of the time he's not in school. I wouldn't put it past him to be smoking up this early.

Then I remembered that we both had an English exam later on today, and suddenly I could have used a dime as well.

Since that was the only text I had received that morning, I then checked my email. There were over a dozen notifications for both Myspace and Facebook, countless advertisements, and a few spam emails as well. Nothing new. I promptly checked all of the boxes and pressed delete. I could never stand having a full mailbox.

After all the messages were cleared, I received another email. In the subject box, it said "IMPORTANT". Deciding it was probably spam, I repeated the deletion process. After it finished loading, my inbox came back up, and the message was still there. I tried deleting it again, but it wouldn't disappear. I realized that I had better start getting ready for school, so I closed my inbox, hoping that the message would be gone the next time I checked.

***

**Rico**

You don't chew gum in Ms. Morrison's class. You don't listen to music in her class, talk in her class, hell, you're not even allowed to fucking sneeze in her class. You don't even think of putting your hand near that cell phone in your pocket, because the woman can hear a pin drop a fucking mile away, let alone hear your fingers tapping on a miniature keyboard.

So when my phone made that cute, soft twinkle that meant that I had gotten a text message, I swear the room went silent as death. I looked up cautiously, and saw Ms. Morrison standing as still as a statue. Her head slowly began to turn, and stopped halfway so that only her side profile was visible.

"Whoever's phone that was, I expect a thousand word essay on today's lesson on my desk tomorrow. If not, I'll have the class take an exam that will be worth a hefty portion of your final exam grade on lessons I haven't even began to teach yet, without which you could only dream of scoring decently," she said coldly.

I could feel everyone around me look around them, questioning each other with their eyes, attempting to figure out who the culprit was, dying to instill some sort of pity or threat to whoever it was that could potentially cause them a huge chunk of their final grade.

I caught the eye of one of my close friends in the class, Sara, who was staring at me with a stern, all too knowing look.

After the period ended, I rushed out of the class, desperate to escape the questioning that was sure to begin once everyone was out of the room.

Sara, however, was too quick, and she was at my side before I could turn the corner.

"Rico, is there something you want to tell me?" she asked in a sarcastic tone.

"You know what, I really have no idea what you're talking about Sara." I suck at lying.

"You know, I can pass Ms. Morrison's exam easily, but I really, really don't need to waste my time studying for another exam. You know what my courses are like. Will you at least consider doing this essay please?"

"Sara, I can't do this essay. My homework tonight is Satan's gift from hell. I'm literally buried under all this crap I've gotta do. I've got two labs due tomorrow! Besides, you know Tim Thornton's gonna end up doing it anyways, he'll do anything for an A."

"Ugh whatever. I just think it was so stupid for you to leave your phone's ringer on. I mean, I know you're not an idiot, but come on, it's Morrison's class. I thought you out of all people would bee more careful. Do you know she made Sidney Garcia cry last semester?"

"I swear I turned it off before class started. I must have pressed it by accident or something."

"Who was it anyway?"

"I haven't checked yet." I pulled out my phone, but before I could open the message, Sara said "Shit, I forgot I need to see Mr. Downing to ask for a retake. I'll talk to you later Rico."

After she left, I checked the message.

It read "Tonight, you will receive a call on this device at 9:00 PM. Pick up."

***

**Kayla**

Dance practice, as usual, was exhausting. I barely made the drive home. Luckily, my mom had offered to take me to and from the studio, even if I did have my own car. It was 7:30 pm, and I longed to just lay in my bed and take a long nap, but then I realized that I had a lengthy paper to write for my English class due tomorrow, and I immediately felt miserable.

Once I made my way to my room, I changed out of my sweaty tank top and jogging pants into a pair of basketball shorts and a old t-shirt. I then took out my English binder from my bag and set it down next to my white Macbook.

Before working on my essay, I logged on to my email account. I had received several emails since the last time I checked, but the one from this morning which I couldn't delete was still there. I hadn't opened it yet, so I decided to see what this annoying email could possibly be.

"You will receive a message on this device at 9:00 pm tonight. Answer promptly."

I knew it. Just another chain letter. I tried deleting the message again, but it still wouldn't do anything.

I wasted too much time on this message already, so I closed my email and began working on my essay.

I had to write a theory of how the story of Romeo and Juliet would play out in today's society. I had to cite three devices that could be used to foreshadow the inevitable tragedy. Oh, and we couldn't use the movie with Leo DiCaprio as a model.

To summarize the story, Romeo and Juliet never made it because of miscommunication. The failed message, late replies, and far too many mediums between them, inevitably led to their deaths.

My mind kept going back to the email, and suddenly an idea came to me. I could use modern ways of communication, like that stupid email, to show how Romeo and Juliet's lives would have been if they grew up in our time!

I immediately began writing the essay, inspired by that email. In less than an hour, I was finished.

Feeling like I deserved some rest, I lay my head down on my pillow, and drifted away. But after what felt like only seconds of sleep, I heard a ringing noise.

I got up, trying to find out where the noise was coming from, and found that it was coming from my Macbook.

There was a bright yellow box flashing in the middle of the screen, with the words "OPEN THIS" in red letters. I realized that that message earlier must have been a virus that caused this to happen, and now I was pretty pissed.

Accidentally, I clicked the box, and suddenly my laptop flashed a bright white light, and I felt myself being pulled by some sort of force. My room began to disappear around me, and my vision went black.

***

Like Kayla, Collin and Rico both received similar messages, and were transported in the same fashion. They found themselves face down on a cold metal floor, disoriented, and slightly nauseous.

Collin was the first to recover, and immediately stood up and observed his surroundings. He was dressed in a black t-shirt and jeans, his medium length hair falling over his eyes. He took in his surroundings, and saw that they were in some sort of chamber with walls of metal, with a small window in the upper right corner of the one the wall adjacent to him. There were no visible doors, and the room was very cold. He then shifted his attention to the only other people in the room with him.

Kayla began to get up, smoothing out her over sized t-shirt, with a dazed look on her face. Even with her dark skin, her face was flushed from the transport. She observed the chamber just as Collin had, and was embarrassed to find that she was in the chamber with two boys, and immediately felt self conscious. This, however, did not overshadow her confusion and fear of what they were going through.

"Who the hell are you?" Collin asked both Kayla and Rico. He was feeling very antagonistic at the moment, so he directed it towards the only people he could.

Kayla, who was instantly offended, shot back, disdain inflected in her voice, "You better watch who you're talking to."

Just then Rico, who was still on the floor, grunted and moaned, diverting both Collin's and Kayla's attention. Unlike the two of them, who were fully clothed, Rico was wearing nothing but a pair of boxers.

"Damn it, I can't believe I'm having this dream again. Why am I always the naked one?" he said, attempting to cover himself.

"I hate to break it to you, but I really don't think you, or any of us is dreaming," said Kayla.

"What are you talking about?" Rico asked.

"If I knew I'd tell you."

"I must be jacked on some pretty hardcore stuff, because there's no way that any of this can possibly be happening right now," Collin said, rubbing his temples.

"OK, maybe you're high on something, but I stay away from that shit. How do you explain that huh?" Kayla responded.

"I don't give a damn, I just wanna know what the fuck's going on here!" exclaimed Collin, who was now pacing around the room.

"OK, if we're going to find out anything, we better start talking. How did both of you end up here?" Kayla asked.  
"All I remember is my phone ringing, so I picked it up, and all of a sudden it starts vibrating insanely. Then everything started getting hot, and there was a bright white light, and I blacked out. And now I'm here, standing in my boxers," Rico recounted.

"That's the same thing that happened to me, except it was my laptop that started acting weird. I got this email today that I couldn't delete, and then later on it started beeping. There was this message on my screen, and I thought it was a virus. I must've clicked it by accident, because right when I did the same thing happened to me," Kayla asked.

"This is just getting too weird for me. I got that same message on my Blackberry. I thought it was gonna explode or something," said Collin.

The three looked at each other, perplexed, and yet felt comforted knowing that they weren't imagining this experience. However, that did nothing to diminish the anxiety and fear growing within them.

"Hey, look in the corner over there" Kayla pointed out.

In the corner were Collin's Blackberry, Kayla's Macbook, and Rico's cell phone. None of them had noticed them until now. It was as if they had just appeared out of thin air.

The three of them went to retrieve their devices, which were arranged neatly side by side. When their hands touched them, however, they became scorching hot and glowed with the same white light that they saw before they were transported to this strange chamber. They pulled their hands away, burned and scared.

When the light dimmed, their items were gone, and in their place were three similar looking devices. All three were the size of their palms, and were also oval shaped. The design was very simple: each of them had a flat clear surface on the lateral side, and a smooth metal underside. The only difference between them were the colors of the underside: gold, silver, and copper.

"So, was it just me, or did you guys see our stuff turn into iPhones?" said Rico.

"Should we take them?" asked Kayla.

"I don't see anything else we can do" said Collin, before reaching for the device, the gold one, which used to be his Blackberry.

Once the three of them had each taken a device, the screens began to glow. A ray of red light shone from the screens into each of their eyes. This caused them to blink, but when they opened their eyes the beam was gone, and on the screens were various pieces of information. Their names were displayed in the upper right hand corner, and the time displayed in thee opposite corner. On the bottom were 6 buttons, each with a different symbol on them. In the center of their screens was an elliptical shape.

Suddenly, balls of light bounced out of the devices in front of them and onto the floor, which began to solidify into three egg shaped items the size of footballs. When the light faded, there were three metallic eggs, each of them corresponding to the color of each of their the devices.

"This is beyond weird, this is just freaky," said Collin.

"I would ask what they are, but I doubt either of you would have an answer," said Rico.

"You know what boxer-boy, you're right," said Kayla.

The eggs, which were stationary, began to wobble. The three were startled and backed away from them.

Moments later, fissures appeared on the surface of the eggs. Pieces began to fall off of them, and eventually, they cracked, revealing three of the strangest creatures that Collin, Kayla, and Rico had ever seen.

Out of the gold egg came a green, snake like creature. It was little over a foot long, and had a large head compared to it's small body. It's eyes were a hazel color and, unlike most snakes any of them had ever seen before, conveyed some sort of intelligence. It did not look like a regular snake, but a sort of distorted, comically exaggerated caricature of one.

The creature that came out of the silver egg resembled some sort of insect. It had a round, purple body, with eight short stubby legs that it used to scurry out of the egg. It had two round purple eyes, which did not look insect like at all, but like the sort of eyes that one would find on a cat. Around it's mouth were two small pincers, which didn't look menacing at all. It was also covered in fuzzy purple hair.

Out of the bronze egg came an orange creature with four legs. Of the three creatures, it had the most distinguishable features. It had a long face with a snout. It had a tuft of brown hair running down it's short neck. On it's feet it had hooves, which clicked as it attempted to get up. It's eyes were dark brown, and like the other two, it seemed to convey an intelligence above a regular animal.

"What are they?" Collin asked.

"I don't know, but the orange one looks cute. Come here little buddy," Rico beckoned to the creature.

The orange creature seemed to recognize Rico, and awkwardly stumbled towards him. Rico made a move towards the creature, but Kayla held him back.

"Are you crazy? You don't even know what the hell that thing is!" Kayla said, gripping Rico.

"Oh come on, look at it. It looks harmless. I've seen puppies scarier than that," said Rico, breaking free of Kayla.

He walked towards the orange creature and picked it up. The creature seemed to enjoy the attention and nuzzled close to his chest.

"See, what did I tell you," Rico said. The orange creature made a squeaking sound, apparently agreeing with Rico.

"Doesn't it bother you one bit that we've essentially been kidnapped, and are now trapped in this room with nothing but these freaky little animals, which are probably here to eat us?" Kayla said with indignation.

"I don't know, this guy seems cool," Collin said.

Kayla turned to see Collin playing with the snake-like creature.

"You guys are nuts," Kayla said in disbelief. She then felt a tugging at her feet.

She looked down at her feet and saw the spider-like creature there. She was about to kick it away, but lost the urge when she looked into the creature's eyes.

"I can't believe I'm doing this," Kayla said before picking up the creature. She immediately felt some sort of affection towards it. It seemed so helpless and harmless.

Rico had immediately bonded with the orange fawn-like creature, and was on his knees playing with it. The creature responded with eagerness and enthusiasm.

Collin on the other hand, was examining the snake-like creature, which was wrapped around his wrist. It was as if they were locked in some sort of staring contest. Collin then rubbed his hand on the creature's head, which it apparently enjoyed.

"You're a freaky little monster aren't you," he said.

Just when the three pairs of human and creature were getting along, another strange event occurred. The devices, which they had stored in their pockets, began to glow with the all too familiar white light. At the same time, the creatures exhibited the same phenomenon. Panicking, the humans dropped the creatures, which were still glowing.

When the light faded, the creatures stood before them, barely recognizable. It appeared that they had grown larger, and developed more distinct features.

The snake-like creature was now over 6 feet long, it's body now more proportionate to it's head, which now had some sort of metallic helmet attached to it. It's body was a darker green, and had dark diamond shaped markings running down the length of it. It's tail tapered off into some sort of spade. There was also a thick metal ring around it's neck, with unrecognizable markings on it.

The spider was now as large as a dog, it's legs now long and spindly. There was a clear distinction between it's head and body, which were separated by a neck. On it's head was a maroon bandanna, and on most of it's legs were an assortment of bangles and bracelets. It's body had a deeper purple color, with a bright red marking the shape of an hour glass on it's back.

The small orange creature had changed into what appeared to be a small pony. It's body had turned into a deeper reddish color, and it's mane stood up bristly. All over it's body were what appeared to be metallic rings embedded in it's skin. it's limbs were now longer and more muscular, and it's tail was longer, which swished every now and then. It had a gold earring in one of it's ears.

"What the hell just happened?" Kayla said aghast.

"You know, I'm really tired of everyone saying that," said Rico.  
"Well get used to it, because I'm sure we're gonna be saying that a lot," said Collin.

The three creatures looked at the three humans, regarding them with curiosity.

"Well if none of you are going to say something, I'm going to," said the spider in a cool, distinctly feminine voice.

Collin, Rico, and Kayla looked on, their mouths open in disbelief.

"Way to go Anansimon. Have you ever heard the word subtle?" the snake said in a smooth masculine voice.

"You know what, I don't think subtle would've worked either way," said the pony, also masculine, but warmer than the other two.

The three humans could not believe their ears. They hadn't even gotten used to the fact that the creatures had spontaneously grew larger, and now they were talking. They were speechless.

"How…how the hell…" Rico stuttered.

"Yeah, I must be stoned," muttered Collin.

Kayla still couldn't say anything.

"Well, you could be, except conventional substances from your world don't work here," said the spider.

"What do you mean our world?" Kayla asked.

"What little miss spider over here means is that you guys aren't in the human world anymore," said the snake.

"Ok, I'll buy into it. Where are we then?" asked Collin.

"Hey, hey, what's the rush? We haven't even been properly introduced yet," the pony said playfully.

"Well excuse us for wondering where the hell we are, and how it's even possible that we're talking to you," said Rico, serious for the first time.

"Look, just be patient, everything will be explained to you eventually. We don't have all the answers for you," said the spider.

"Fine. Who, or what are you then?" asked Kayla.

"Well, my name is Anansimon," said the spider.

"I'm Hizmon" said the snake.

"You can call me Pintomon," said the horse.

"And, what are you exactly?" asked Collin.

"We're digital organisms, but you can call us Digimon for short," said Anansimon.

"Digital organisms? That doesn't make any sense at all," said Collin.

"Well it does, and the sooner you can wrap your heads around that, the easier it will be for you when the bossman explain everything else to you," said Pintomon.

"Bossman? Who would that be?" asked Rico.

Just as Rico said it, a loud voice rang through the room.

"Humans and Digimon, welcome to the Inter-Dimensional Communications and Research facility, or IDCR for ease of remembrance. A gate will open for you on the wall to your left momentarily. Please exit and follow the path to the laboratory. Everything will be explained eventually," it said.

After the voice spoke, the panels on one of the walls shifted, revealing an opening. The three Digimon began to walk towards it. They stopped halfway there and turned towards the humans.

"Are you coming or not?" asked Hizmon.

"Should we go?" Kayla asked Collin and Rico.

"I don't see what else we can do," said Rico.

"Well I'm going. I wanna know what this is all about," Collin said, following the three digimon.

Rico and Kayla followed, and exited the chamber before it closed behind them.


	2. Answers

_Collin_

_**OK, I'm pretty much convinced that I'm not high on anything, but that doesn't changed the fact that I am extremely freaked out by everything that's going on. And I don't get freaked out very easily. I mean, I sat through SAW, on LSD, and laughed my ass of the entire time.**_

_**The Digimon were walking a short distance in front of us, and the other two people were silent. The black girl looked ahead sternly, and the one in his boxers, who I assumed was Hispanic, kept glancing around him.**_

_**I instinctively reached in my pocket for my Blackberry, but instead grabbed the weird device that it had changed into. The pathway seemed pretty long, so I decided to play around with it. The light from it glared at me, illuminating the dark tunnel.**_

_**The buttons on the bottom of the screen had symbols on them, which I was familiar with. There was a globe, a satellite dish, a thermometer, a pair of crosshairs, a cross, and the letter D. I decided to play around with it, so I pressed the button with the globe on it. The screen flashed, and a 3D image of a globe floated out of the screen and hovered in mid air. **_

"_**What are you doing?" the Hispanic looking kid asked me.**_

"_**I pressed the button with the globe on it, and this came out," I answered him back. I realized that I didn't even know his name. Whatever, it didn't really matter right now.**_

_**The globe floating above the device looked so solid, I couldn't help but try and touching it. When I touched an area of it, a sort of window materialized right above the place where my finger was. Before I could read what it said, the globe vanished. I stopped, and so did everyone else.**_

"_**What gives?" I asked to no one in particular.**_

"_**Easy there ace, the thing hasn't been fully programmed yet. It's still running on batteries," said Hizmon, the weird snake-creature that came out of the thing in my hand. I still wasn't used to a giant snake talking to me. He was now by my side.**_

"_**And what exactly is this thing?"**_

"_**Well, it's a Digital World Data Analysis and Synthesis Device, but you can call it a Digivice if you want. I do," Hizmon said.**_

"_**This world's just full of acronyms huh."**_

"_**You don't even know," said Hizmon. He looked like he could be grinning. **_

"_**So what am I supposed to use it for?"**_

"_**For starters, that button you pressed is a map of the Digital World, but that's something that'll be explained to you later. The one with the satellite on it is the communicator and coordinating button, it let's home base know where you are and allows you to communicate with them. Next to that, is the health monitor, which tells you how I'm feeling," Hizmon said, but before he could continue, I cut him off.**_

"_**Why would I need to know how you're feeling?"**_

"_**It's a complicated explanation, most of which I can't even explain properly. I just digivolved from the fresh stage for crying out loud. But I digress. Basically, for all intents and purposes, I'm your partner Digimon."**_

_**Kayla**_

_We had stopped walking down the tunnel, and Hizmon, whatever he was, was explaining to the boy with dark brown hair what the strange devices, or Digivices as Hizmon called them, were supposed to do. But when Hizmon began talking about being the kid's partner Digimon, I had to step in._

"_Partner Digimon? What does that even mean? You say it like we're supposed to be best friends now. We don't even know what you are," I said, very annoyed at this point. It was like they expected us to know what was going on._

"_Yes, like it or not Kayla, Hizmon, Pintomon and I are bound to each of you. But that's something that can't be explained right now, because neither of us know any off the details pertaining to our mission. However, I can answer your last question. Like I said earlier, we are Digimon, Digital Organisms. We are sentient beings, just like all of you are. Though we may look like creatures from your world, we are so much more different. Obviously, we are above the intelligence of any animal you've encountered, so it would be inaccurate to refer to us as such," said Anansimon._

"_You keep saying "our world", like we're in some sort of different dimension. That can't be possible," I retorted._

"_Oh really, then what other possible explanation can you have for a talking spider with a great fashion sense?"_

"_Hippie," Pintomon said, feigning coughing. Anansimon responded by aiming a kick at him with one of her eight long legs._

"_Hippie? If you're saying we're in another world, how can you know about hippies?" said boxer-boy._

"_Well, to continue Anansimon's explanation, I'm gonna use a metaphor. Think of the Digital World like a fun house mirror. When you look into it, you see yourself, but a different, stranger version of yourself, which is exactly what the Digital World is. The Digital World is basically a distorted version of your world," Pintomon explained._

"_But how did it even come to exist?" I asked._

"_Well, that's a whole other story, IDCR can explain to you in greater detail, but basically the Digital World was created at the same time the first computer was invented. Since then, the information that people inputted to computers after that helped influence it's growth," Hizmon answered._

"_Well it can't be too old then, ENIAC was invented in the 40's. That means the Digital World can't be older than 60 years," said the stoner._

"_Actually, you're wrong on that one. You see, time here runs exponentially faster than it does in your world. Approximately 1 year here takes an hour in your world," said Anansimon. _

"_Wow, that's insane. I still can't believe any of this is real," said boxer boy._

"_Alright, but that still doesn't explain why we're here," I pointed out._

_The three Digimon looked at each other with a knowing look, turned around and kept walking. Anansimon turned back and said, "We're running late. We should have been at the lab a while ago. I promise that IDCR will have all the answers you need."_

_She turned back, and I, recognizing the finality in her voice, followed._

_**Rico**_

_I really don't like being overloaded with information, and finding out that you're in a different dimension created from computers with weird talking animal like creatures definitely counts as a major overload._

_I'm surprised that I've been so calm this entire time. I usually shit my pants walking the dog at night. Oh crap, I forgot to feed my dog Jorge. Well, the Digimon said time passes slower here right? So I guess I'm not in too much trouble._

_I'm worrying about feeding my dog above being kidnapped. I need to get my priorities straight._

_The Digimon were now walking by our sides. Pintomon was closest to me. I'm guessing he was my partner Digimon now. As weird as this whole situation is, it's actually kind of cool._

_The other two Digimon were now paired off with the other two people we were with. The other guy was walking beside Hizmon, and the girl was talking about something with Anansimon. I realized I didn't even know their names._

"_What are your names?" I blurted out. I was never good at meeting new people._

_The two of them looked at me oddly, so did the Digimon. I'm pretty sure I started blushing, then I remembered I was wearing nothing but my boxers, and my whole body went warm. _

"_Umm…My name's Collin McCormac, but it's just Collin to you."_

"_And my name's Kayla James."_

"_Well, I'm Rico, Rico Aguillar." I was hoping the awkwardness would end, but when none of them said anything, it got even worse. Still, I felt compelled to keep the conversation going._

"_Where are you guys from?"_

"_My bedroom, in Lower East Side Manhattan," Collin answered._

"_New York, that's awesome," I said, not knowing what to say._

"_Eh, it's whatever. You get used to it."_

"_What about you Kayla?"_

_Kayla closed her eyes for a minute, but reopened them a second later._

"_Seattle, Washington," she said in a voice that almost sounded sad._

"_What about you?" Kayla asked me. The tone in her voice had changed completely._

"_Uh, I'm from Jacksonville Florida."_

_After that we stopped talking again and continued walking. I could see a door at the end of the hallway, which was almost close._

_Suddenly, a random thought came to my mind, so I decided to ask Pintomon._

"_Hey Pintomon, does the Digital World have countries like our world?"_

_Pintomon took a moment before answering "Yes." He didn't turn to look at me._

_Before I could ask something else, we were already at the door. It slid open, and bright lights flashed into my face._

_***_

_After the lights had faded, the six teenagers and Digimon found themselves in a room which looked like the interior of a computer. There were patterns that resembled those found on computer chips randomly distributed on the green walls. Assortments of wires coursed through the machinery in the room, the functions of which were not obvious. Three-dimensional images, like the globe that had appeared out of Collin's Digivice, floated above various panels which were attached to most of the equipment. A screen the size of a small movie theatre's took up the whole wall directly in front of them._

_They could not see those who were working in the laboratory because they were obscured by the lack of lighting in the room, but the three saw that when a figure passed by a light source, none of them resembled a human. _

_A figure rose in front of the large screen, taller than most of the machines in the room. It's silhouette was intimidating; It had wide, broad shoulders, and large, powerful looking arms. It was the most human looking thing any of them had seen so far._

_The figure began to walk towards them slowly, and when it came into the light, it's appearance terrified them._

_What they thought was a man was actually a far more bizarre than anything they had ever encountered, even more so than the partner Digimon. The figure had a face of a black bear with a light brown colored snout. The features were softened, however, to the point of being anthropomorphic. It had the body of a very muscular, very large man. He wore a long, leather coat, with large buckles around the midsection to keep it partly closed. The muscles in his arms were visible beneath the leather, straining against the material. His hands were the size of dinner plates, and each of the digits tapered off into sharp, deadly looking claws. The eyes of the being were the only aspect that did not convey any sort of ferocity; They were the color of golden amber. _

"_You're late," the being spoke in a deep, low growl. _

"_Our apologies sir, we felt that it was in the best interest of our humans if we briefly explained the bare essentials of their current situation," answered Anansimon._

"_That is understandable. Have there been any complications so far?"_

"_None sir. They seem to have adapted to our world well," said Hizmon._

"_Good. Before anything else, were there any problems with the digivolution process?"_

"_No sir, all of us have successfully hatched and digivolved free from error. Though I might add, the accelerated digivolution process causes slight disorientation," said Pintomon._

"_Is this true for both of you as well, Hizmon, Anansimon?"_

"_No sir, perhaps Pintomon is just weak of gut," quipped Anansimon._

_Pintomon did not say anything, but appeared to have turned a darker shade of orange._

_Throughout the interview of the Digimon by the large being, the humans could do nothing but stand as still as they could, fearful to draw attention to themselves. Rico appeared visually shaken, and Kayla could feel him shivering beside her. The being then turned it's attention to the three children._

"_Before I say anything else to you, I want you to understand one thing. Among all of the types of Digimon or other creatures you may encounter in the Digital World, I am among those, besides your partner Digimon, who you have the least to fear. My name is Ursamon, leader of the Inter Dimensional Reasearch and Communications. On behalf of myself, and the staff of IDRC, I wish to welcome you to the Digital World," said Ursamon. Collin, who had mustered up the courage, was the first to come forward and speak. "Yeah, hi, nice to meet you Ursamon. I don't mean to be rude, and I say that only 'cos you'll probably rip my head off if I say what I really mean, but just what the hell are we doing here? I mean, we've been here for who knows how long and we still don't know why we're here? I'm a patient guy, but I want some answers now."_

"_I wouldn't expect any less of you Collin, and I promise you that you will have the answers that you need."_

"_Expect any less of me? What's that supposed to mean?"_

"_It means that you are exactly as I expected you to be. We've been observing you, all of you, for the past year, as part of a selection process for a mission that needs to be accomplished."_

"_Observing us? You mean stalking us, because that's what it sounds like to me," said Kayla, stepping in for the first time, and feeling more confident after Collin's outburst._

"_Stalking implies malicious intent, and I assure you that our purpose is far from it. You see, by our observations, you three are the most competent out of all the millions of people we could have chosen."_

"_Competent? You guys must have some sort of bug on your computer, because I'm sure that I'm the farthest thing from competent. Look at me, I'm as scrawny as an anorexic 12 year old," said Rico._

"_Rico, you were able to write a program to bypass the security on the U.S. Government's website were you not?" said Ursamon in an interested tone. _

"_Yeah, but that was a total fluke. I didn't even mean to hack into the system. And if you've been watching me this whole time, you probably saw that I panicked and threw my laptop in the furnace because I was so scared I was going to get annihilated by some satellite laser or something."_

"_Well that wasn't necessary. We were able to scramble the signal from your laptop before they could pick it up."_

"_So you just let me throw my 1500$ computer for nothing?"_

"_Well, there _


End file.
